Lionel Messi was on the same ill-fated plane just 18 days ago

The plane which was carrying the Chapecoense team crashed on Monday.

Messi with the crew members of the flight along with Javier Mascherano (Credits: Marca)

The football world was shaken yesterday when news broke that a plane carrying Brazilian side Chapecoense had crashed in Colombia. Now it has come to light that the same plane was used by Lionel Messi and the rest of the Argentinian national team just three weeks back.

This particular plane has often been the mode of transport for South American football teams often in the past. As reported in Marca, the President of Atletico Nacional Juan Carlos de la Cuesta also revealed that the plane had been used by his team frequently. Venezuela’s national soccer team also used the plane in the past

Messi and his Argentinian teammates were on their way back after the World Cup qualifier against Brazil on 10 November 2016, and they travelled back to Ezeiza in Argentina in the same plane that crashed in Colombia on Monday. The British Aerospace 146 plane operated by LAMIA Bolivia, registration CP-2933 carried Argentina safely to Brazil on 11 November, 2016.

Argentina had suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Brazil in the match in Belo Horizonte and the flight back home was not particularly a happy one. The training centre of the Argentina national side was based in Ezeiza and the plane had landed safely there.

Chapecoense were on their way to play in the final match of Copa Sudamericana against Atletico Nacional. But the LAmia BAE-146 aircraft lost contact with the control tower while flying near La Ceja.

The plane crashed in Antioquia, in the vicinity of municipalities of La Ceja and La Union, near the Jose Maria Cordova airport. Nine crew members and 72 passengers were on board the flight which was expected to arrive at midnight.

However, 75 people died in the plane crash and only six survived.

The Brazilian side had to change their travel plans to Colombia as the Brazilian aviation authority took a decision that prevented them from travelling to Medellin on a chartered flight. The club delegation had to board a commercial flight, which unfortunately suffered the crash.